Hey Hey We're the Merkels

Mr. T.'s aunt and uncle are in town this weekend. It has been a lot of fun. We are packing up and they have been a dream to have around. They are so helpful and are either packing or taking care of Peanut while we are packing. AND.... they don't mind our almost constant sleeping.

We also had a nice surprise when peanut crawled into her crib. it was really cute. Then I saw her wondering around the house and neither Mr. T. nor I had let her out. GRRRRR. I really wanted her to wait until we at least moved, but... she didn't. We pulled the front rail off her crib and are currently fighting for her to go to sleep.

Funny Things

She has started laughing at her friends. When they do something silly, she laughs. When they get in trouble for being naughty, she laughs. Quinn got in trouble for hitting her mama, and Peanut thought it was really funny. They both thought it was funny to stick rocks in their mouth when I was telling them not to. You can't get mad at either one of them though. Their laughter is addictive. Even when they are naughty, a sly smile and giggle to one another makes me feel good. It makes me feel like they both have an ally, and we all need as many as we can get. It is especially wonderful because I love Quinn's mother dearly. Quinn's and Peanut's friendship is important.

Peanut has a scab on her knee. She points to it and tells us "oww. Hurt.".

She now thinks the Saab is hers. "Peanut's truck"

She has started eating again. Yay. I guess she wasn't hungry for a while. My "not worrying" was okay.

Peanut now refers to herself in the third person all the time. She can also tell me where the doggy and daddy went. "outside. walk"

She likes to count, but gets most of the number wrong. "two, three, five, six, nine"

Most things are the color "pink"

I dressed her today, but it wasn't what she wanted to wear. She wanted to wear her velor pants and the matching train shirt. She asked for "help please" to get the pants on. I had to talk her out of the long sleeve shirt when it hit 80 today.

She tried to give the character on the TV a hug today. It worked better when she hugged her cracker.

Love too much

I am afraid I really love the house we are in. It is full of so many good memories. When the lady handed me the check for the deposit yesterday, I started shaking. I couldn't believe it was really happening. We are going to move and start the remodeling process all over again. I felt like an idiot just standing there somewhat speechless. The lady buying the house was ecstatic. Her mom and aunt were beaming, and her daughters were looking lost. I couldn't really say anything because it felt like all words would bring tears. Luckily, Mr. T. stepped in. He told her how happy we (I) was that she was getting the house.

The lady buying the house looked at it with love. She loved the gardens and berry bushes. She even loved our old stove and wanted to be sure it came with the house. We have poured a lot of love and sweat into this house. I am glad someone who can appreciate it is buying it. It deserves to be loved. It is a happy house, and as the Diane, the lady buying it, makes a new beginning, I hope it makes her happy as well.

So I write all this because Mr. T. also bought a new play car yesterday. The guy he bought it from is moving to Italy. The guy, Steve, really poured a lot of heart and soul into the car. He kept giving Mr. T. all these free things to go in it. Mr. T. got it for a steal not counting all the free stuff. I overheard Steve say "I don't care if you race it. I am just happy it is going to an enthusiast."

The same is true with me and our house. I don't care if she changes it, as long as she is happy and grows in it.

AND MAYBE

maybe we sold this one. Maybe. It is looking promising. We will know for sure when the inspector does his rounds.

Sold

We are now the proud owners of two houses. Yay or whatever I should say.

We are listing with an agent to sell this house next week sometime.

Bath

It seems like the only thing peanut isn't fighting me on these days is taking a bath. In fact, I start running the water and she jumps in.

There was a loud thud right after I left the bathroom this afternoon. I ran back to find peanut in the bath fulling clothed, so of course, I ran out to get the camera. When I got back about 10 seconds later she was MAD. She kept saying "wet" through her tears. Maybe she will think about that next time. I doubt it.

We are closing on the house tomorrow. We did our final walk through today. We have a lot of work ahead of us on this new house, but in the end, it will be worth it. I guess you buy a house expecting it will need to change.

What's your name?

Peanut started using her name fairly frequently the last couple of days. I have heard her use her name before, but she started using it like wildfire today. Of course, she may have been using it all along and I just couldn't tell what she was saying.

She also said her ABC's to I today. It is weird, but we haven't worked the ABC's in a while. She must have been working on them at school. She also counted to three. When I kept counting to 5 she yelled 6.

That girl. She is going to be our money maker.

Peace

This was a video done by my cousin.

Save the Drama

For your momma. I tell that to Peanut sometimes, but I tell her PaPa or Daddy. It doesn't rhyme as well, but it gets the point across.

So more drama on the house, I am having trouble accessing my own money out of retirement, so I am pushing the signing date back. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal as the lady is staying there two weeks after we sign, but evidently it is. Drama Drama. Bla Bla Bla. It will all work out. We had another open house this weekend. Only two groups showed up, it was a pretty nasty day, so that maybe the issue. BUT, we are dropping the price by 10G's. We are giving it two weeks more then we are going to go with a real estate agent. I am getting really tired of all this house stuff. I am really ready for this part of my life to be behind me.

This weekend some friends came over for dinner. It was fun. Peanut and Trep ran around like wildcats. Peanut wouldn't eat her dinner because she wanted old Trep to play with her. This afternoon, peanut went to their house while we had the open house. More playing was done and much more being tired.

Peanut has another yeast rash. Part of it was my fault because I left her in cloth too long, but GEEZ. She was crying so much about it, it made me start to cry. I put a new lotion that is suppose to be organic and bla bla bla, I think it stung her more than soothed her. I ended up putting the spray stuff the I accidentally stole from my friend when I stayed at her house (Sorry Lisa). I thought the organic stuff would be good for the clothe diapers, but I guess that isn't true if it feels like hot acid on raw flesh (which is what her cries sounded like).

So the house thing is a bum, but as Mr. T. says, "At least the house is clean."

Love Letter to a 20 Month Old

Dear Peanut,

A lot has been going on this month. With the constant cleaning and the dreadful heat, we haven't really gotten outside much to play. You have been a trooper though. For a little one, you seem to adapt really well to the changes around you. We try to keep you on a schedule, but it doesn't always happen. Even with Ms. Tina being gone this month, you were still willing to go to day school and act like a sweety.

This month has also been the start of the whining. I don't know if you are teething or if you are just going through a whiny period. Your vocabulary is really good and you can tell me what you want, so there really isn't any reason for it. You don't really seem to be whiny for any good reason. I don't even think that you want something. It is almost like you are trying to be as annoying as possible and see what you can do to push my buttons and really make me flip my lid.

Along with the whining, you have also become very cuddly. Perhaps it is because you are weaning yourself or perhaps it is because I may not be there in the morning when you wake up. You tell your dad or I "hugs" and give us big hugs that makes us smile.

We dropped your morning nursing which, I think has dropped my milk supply. It has made a world of difference in our household. You sleeps better which means your father and I sleep better. When you do nurse you go from breast to breast before finally giving up asking for her pacifier "BACI".

I was really dreading weaning you, but I don't feel as sad as I thought I would. It is nice to hold you and cuddle you, but up until recently nursing was the only time I could do that. I like this new little girl we are seeing. You are funny and cuddly and sweet. Even if you are quick with a reprimand, you are also quick with the hugs and smiles.

Love,
your mum

A Little Vacation

We went on a little get out of town vacation this weekend. It was fun. We all went to the lake on Saturday with my mom and dad. Peanut had fun swimming in the "big pool". We tried to explain to her that it was a lake, but she wasn't buying it. She is really rigid in the words she uses. There isn't much room for subtle differences. A car is still a truck and grapes are still beads. We call them by their correct name, but she almost seems to try to correct us.

On Sunday, Mr. T and I ditched peanut and went to Branson to shop. We bought a comforter for Peanuts new big girl bed for 15 dollars. It isn't great, and it isn't pretty, but it will work. I never realized how expensive bedding was. I have a hard time spending too much money on it knowing that she is going to be peeing on it. Originally, I thought I would buy a down comforter, but... (see the previous sentence). We did get some stuff on sale, but they sales weren't as good as I thought they would be. I guess it was pretty picked over. We did get her some striped pink Osh Kosh overalls. They didn't have any corduroy, which is what I was looking for.

We finally got peanut's cool new back pack in the mail Saturday (and an extra foot for me, have you noticed my feet and legs are in a lot of pictures? It isn't a fetish. I swear.). It was hard to find a backpack that was plain and made for a toddler. We love the one we got. She calls it her "doggie backpack". She puts her baby in it and carries him around. When we took these pictures she was mad because I shoved baby down into the backpack, and she wanted to play with him.

We put "Peanut" on the back pack because I didn't want strange people knowing her name. It is funny though because we never really call her peanut at home. She has no idea that she is peanut. She thinks her name is baby.